CHILDREN'S SYMPHONIES

Evening Post, Volume CII, Issue 34, 9 August 1921, Page 10

CHILDREN'S SYMPHONIES

GRADUATED SCHEME

Delegates to the congress of the British Musio Society in London recently attended a reception by the president and Lady Howard do Walden at the Hotel Grand Central. Subsequently Lord, Howard de Walden presided at a. banquet in the Wharnoliffe Rooms at the Hotel, when Viscount Burnham proposed the toast of "The British Music Sooiety."

Dr. Englefield Hull, the organising director, in replying, first thanked Lord Burhham for his high tribute to the value of tho society. Perhaps, he .continued, the title of the society was a little unfortunate. How could they be the British Music Society if they played the works of composers of other countries as they did? He believed ho was expressing the opinion of the executive committees all over the country when he 6&id that the true, way of being British was to be international. They had had it repeatedly emphasised that if they wanted British .music abroad, and surely all musicians did-want that, they must play programmes at their concerts which contained music of other nations besides their own. They still wanted £3600 to put that splendid society on a proper foundation, and a scheme was needed to produce that sum.

Mr. Walter Damrosoh, responding to the toast of "Our Guest," which was proposed by Sir Hugh Allen, said, as an. old admirer of this country, he could not but notice the change whioh had come oyor Great Britain musically. It was something marvellous. When ho first came to England "he doubted whether there was a British conductor. No one had hoard of Sir Edward Ehrar. and the Royal College of Music was in its infancy. The orchestras were composed to a gerat extent of foreigners. To-day there were a. number of masters of composition in this country, talented composers, who were- making themselves felt in every branch of the. musical field. Besides that, they had a group of English-born and English-bred conductors. Thon there wore a number of splendid symphony orchestra* almost entirely composed of British musicians, educated in this country, and by thair own schools of music. The marvellously short period in which this transformation had been effected was a miracle the like of whioh no other country could show to-da.y. Ho was speaking'as an American to Britisher, and he could not speak eloquently or' strongly enough to make British musicians feel how much Americans realised what they had done sinco .the- Victorian era.fand how firmly Britain now 'stood up in the/world of music to-day. (Cheers.) In America, he continued, they tried to catch the public when' they were young. Ho gave children's symphony concerts for little ones of from B'to 12 yearsl of age, followed by young people's .toncerts for children from 12 to 16.; Music was a habit. It was easy to make children love good -music, and under this graduated Bcherne at 17 or, 18 years of age they eagerly went to' the regular symphony concerto. That was something which might be worth considering in this country. (Cheers.)

Lord Howard de Walden, responding to the toast of his health, which was honoured on tho call of Dr. Fellowes, deplored that there was co strong a tendency in thpse days to insist upon personality. Creative work ought, to have no personality. To associate the two, ac was done, was equally harmful to the audience and tho man who did the work. Our whole value of tho arts had been corrupted by this insistence on personality. (Cheers.)